Jan 13 set as start date at Lebanon Special Tribunal

The pre-trial judge at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued on Friday an order,  setting January 13, 2014 as a new tentative date for the start of the trial. The rules of the Tribunal require the pre-trial judge, Daniel Fransen, to set a cautious date for the trial, which could change based on judicial developments. The next phase requires Fransen to refer the case to the trial chamber judges, who set the final date for the trial. Earlier this year, the pre-trial judge postponed the tentative trial date concluding that the parties were not ready for trial due to a number of reasons including lack of adequate time for disclosure of material to the defence counsel. He indicated in his decision that most of these issues have since been addressed and a new provisional date for the trial can now be set. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was created by the United Nations Security Council, at the request of the Government of Lebanon in 2007 and started its work on 1 March 2009. Its primary mandate is to hold trials for the people accused of carrying out the attack of 14 February 2005 which killed 23 people, including the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafiq Hariri, and injured many other